I had the pleasure of catching a Jameson Cult Film Club screening of The Blues Brothers earlier this evening. And it was awesome. Really, really great night. Might have been the best yet. I’ll have more details on it later in the week, but now seems like a good time to revisit the classic.
It’s 106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it’s dark… and we’re wearing sunglasses.
Hit it.
– Elwood and Jake
It might seem a bit redundant to say it, but The Blues Brothers has soul. Not just the funky music, though it has plenty of that. Nor an evangelical message, although the two brothers are, as they claim, “on a mission from God.” No, The Blues Brothers has a core of pure exuberance, a sense of joy that is all too rare – it doesn’t seem like writers Dan Ackroyd and John Landis threw ideas at the wall to see what stuck, so much as they demolished the wall and threw it at another wall. The Blues Brothers is, by turns, absurd, wry, grounded, sarcastic, charming, heartwarming and sardonic, with those elements frequently overlapping to an almost insane degree. In many ways, like John Belushi’s scheming, manipulative and aggressive Jake Elwood, it’s far more charming than it really should be. But we love it for it.
It’s a dirty business…
Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: arts, Blues Brother, Chicago, Dan Aykroyd, Elwood, films, Illinois, Jake, John Belushi, John Candy, john landis, Movies, non-review review, Rawhide, Ray Charles, review, Steven Williams | 4 Comments »
the m0vie blog 
384. Spaceballs (#—)
Hosted by Andrew Quinn and Darren Mooney, and this week with special guests Donal Sweeney, The 250 is a weekly trip through some of the best (and worst) movies ever made, as voted for by Internet Movie Database Users. New episodes are released Saturdays at 6pm GMT.
This week, a special commentary on Mel Brook’s Spaceballs.
A long time ago in a franchise not so far away, the evil Spaceballs travel from planet to planet, harvesting their atmospheres to sustain their own lifestyle. They kidnap Princess Vespa from the Planet Druidia, prompting her father to hire the devilish rogue Lone Star to rescue her. So begins an epic adventure about the power of Schwarz.
At time of recording, it was not ranked on the list of the best movies of all time on the Internet Movie Database.
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Filed under: The 250 | Tagged: bill pullman, comedy, donal sweeney, imdb, John Candy, live commentary, Mel Brooks, mockery, podcast, rick moranis, satire, spaceballs, spoof, star wars, The 250 | Leave a comment »